So I just finished Portal.

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So I just finished Portal.

Postby Tarnish » Wed May 28, 2008 5:39 am

And not to say it was a bad game. Not at all. I enjoyed myself.

But that's it. The way people go on about it, I expected the great almighty to reveal himself to me while a group of cherubs surrounded me with flowers and ascended into heaven while singing as an angelic choir during the final boss fight, or something...The game was just...fun.

Aside from the game being too short and too easy, a lot of the rooms looked identical, and I found myself accidentally retracing my steps a lot. The learning curve is all over the place. While most puzzles are too easy, there were one or two I solved on accident. I doubt I could figure them out again. Not like I'd want to, the replay value is absolutely non-existent.

I liked Glados well enough, but I was disappointed that I never got to hear her call me "a pathetic creature of meat and bone".

And she was funny. Not as funny as she would have been had I not heard most of her lines ad nauseum beforehand, but still quite funny.

Maybe I'm just hardened after hearing "LOLCAKECAKECAKECAKECAKE" "BEST GAME EVAR" "LOOK AT MY AVATAR. IT IS THE COMPANION CUBE."

Yeah, maybe that's it. Or maybe I have no soul. I don't know. I'm just hoping someone can point out what I missed.
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Postby Monkey J. Luffy » Thu May 29, 2008 3:23 pm

Well, I will admit I have total bias, but here it is: THE GAME WAS FUN. It introduced one of the most amazing concepts I have ever seen in a game. The black humor was just amazing, and it had weighted companion cube. It's just AWESOME! But hey you can believe it was just fun... I guess...
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Postby Fish and Chips » Thu May 29, 2008 3:31 pm

Monkey J. Luffy (post: 1230923) wrote:Well, I will admit I have total bias, but here it is: THE GAME WAS FUN. It introduced one of the most amazing concepts I have ever seen in a game. The black humor was just amazing, and it had weighted companion cube. It's just AWESOME! But hey you can believe it was just fun... I guess...

The irony in this post is so hilarious it is depressing.
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Postby Haruhiko » Thu May 29, 2008 3:55 pm

Monkey J. Luffy (post: 1230923) wrote:Well, I will admit I have total bias, but here it is: THE GAME WAS FUN. It introduced one of the most amazing concepts I have ever seen in a game. The black humor was just amazing, and it had weighted companion cube. It's just AWESOME! But hey you can believe it was just fun... I guess...


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Postby Nate » Thu May 29, 2008 3:58 pm

Monkey J. Luffy wrote:The black humor was just amazing

The black humor was probably amazing before people like you ruined it with signatures like yours. Now it's just tiresome and irritating.
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Postby Tarnish » Thu May 29, 2008 4:20 pm

Nate's right. The humor really was quite clever, but I was, for the most part, completely and totally unable to enjoy it. Every time I saw the cake quote scribbled on a wall, it was just a sad reminder that I could have been laughing.
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Postby Peanut » Thu May 29, 2008 4:36 pm

I can honestly see and understand why you didn't enjoy Portal. I love Portal...it's easily one of my favorite games of all time because the writing (and voice acting) were very well done. The gameplay was also rather original (how many portal based, first person puzzle games are there in existence?) however if it hadn't of been for the writing I wouldn't of liked it. However, I unlike you, played it before it had been quoted almost in entirety on every conceivable internet site and by every person on the face of the planet. I guess Portal is now becoming a victim of it's own success, those of us who played it when it first came out probably have played through it multiple times since (or at least I have), however those of you who missed out and are just now trying it are finding it to be over hyped....meh...I still think it's a great game.
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Postby Tarnish » Thu May 29, 2008 4:41 pm

Now, now, I never said I didn't enjoy it. In fact, I'm pretty sure I said it was fun. Pretty darn fun. I just don't quite understand why it's gotten all of the attention/praise it has. Though I realize now that's probably just because it couldn't have possibly met my expectations after hearing that this was the game to end all games (cake cake cake).
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Postby Shao Feng-Li » Thu May 29, 2008 5:03 pm

So what's the deal with the cakes and cubes?
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Postby Tarnish » Thu May 29, 2008 5:24 pm

They're both popular, apparently, for their being the subject of an okay joke and a few pretty hilarious jokes, respectively.
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Postby Mr. SmartyPants » Thu May 29, 2008 6:52 pm

"If you don't like Portal than you must be STUUUUPID."
-Yahtzee
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Postby Tarnish » Thu May 29, 2008 7:10 pm

I never said I didn--wait, oh. I see. You were just looking for a reason to quote Yahtzee. Ha. Sure, don't contribute anything. Just quote someone in a context that makes NO FRIGGING SENSE but is loosely related to the topic at hand.

...Rather like the whole "cake" thing, really.
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Postby Fish and Chips » Thu May 29, 2008 7:11 pm

But Ryan loved Portal, so what's his excuse?
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Postby Mr. SmartyPants » Thu May 29, 2008 9:03 pm

lol nah, I kid. Yeah, I'm sure the overhype and the overusage of all the memes and quotes is what may have lessened the experience for you. XD
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Postby Gabriel 9.0 » Thu May 29, 2008 9:41 pm

I'll have to get Portal.
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Postby uc pseudonym » Fri May 30, 2008 1:27 pm

Not long ago I decided that my chances of getting to play Portal were minimal, so I went looking for all the dialogue on the internet. That's all that interested me, anyway, as while I'm sure the puzzles might be fun that isn't a must-play factor for me.

I experienced something similar to your reaction, actually. It was witty writing, but nothing really blew me away. Black, but I was expecting so much blacker due to the hype.
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Postby Etoh*the*Greato » Fri May 30, 2008 1:51 pm

What I've been seeing is that the die-hards were the first-adopters and the people who were anywhere from "meh" to "hate it" were those who came afterwards, generally speaking. If truth be told, I'm honestly hoping they decide against a sequel. I loved the game, but it was a packaged deal, a complete experience. I'll be ruined if they make another I think.
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Postby Tarnish » Fri May 30, 2008 4:44 pm

Etoh*the*Greato (post: 1231339) wrote:I loved the game, but it was a packaged deal, a complete experience. I'll be ruined if they make another I think.

Agreed. One of the things I really liked about Portal was that the ending was actually very fulfilling, and doesn't need a sequel for any real reason. Which is something I'm not seeing too often in games right now...
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Postby Cognitive Gear » Fri May 30, 2008 5:37 pm

I enjoyed Portal quite a lot, though I was one of the few that was looking forward to it more than anything else in the Orange Box from the beginning. The portal mechanic is extremely cool, and makes for some interesting puzzles.

However, it suffered a cruel fate at the hands of overzealous valve fanboys. By the time that anyone got to it but the early adopters, a good portion of the game had become an annoying internet meme. I don't think I can play the game anymore, after seeing certain lines quoted far too many times.

I can only hope that there will come a time when people will not know what Portal is, if only so that the few people that stumble on it can enjoy it as a fresh experience.
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Postby Mr. SmartyPants » Fri May 30, 2008 7:39 pm

Cognitive Gear (post: 1231418) wrote:However, it suffered a cruel fate at the hands of overzealous valve fanboys.

;_; SHUT UP!

Lol, no. Seriously though, I think the reason why people loved it at first was because they had absolutely NO idea what they were getting into.

Everybody else had the experience killed for them due to the hype.
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Postby Etoh*the*Greato » Fri May 30, 2008 7:55 pm

Yup. S'what I'ma sayin'.
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Postby Cap'n Nick » Fri May 30, 2008 11:42 pm

I played the game recently as well. My reaction was more along the lines of "So THAT'S why they kept raving about the cake!"

Even with the black humor and the fanboy hype, the most depressing part of the game for me was knowing that I was developing a problem solving skill set with absolutely zero chance of application in reality. If anything, I was erasing useful conceptions of space and time that I previously possessed. The game actually made me dumber!

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Postby bakura_fan » Sat May 31, 2008 3:00 pm

I thought that they might actually use the portal gun for the third episode of half life...*haven't played too much of episode 2 yet but I have watched video clips online to make me suspicious enough.*
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Postby Etoh*the*Greato » Sat May 31, 2008 9:32 pm

What you're likely seeing is Gary's Mod or other mods to the HL engine that enable people to goof around with the game.
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Postby bakura_fan » Sun Jun 01, 2008 3:02 pm

Etoh*the*Greato (post: 1231751) wrote:What you're likely seeing is Gary's Mod or other mods to the HL engine that enable people to goof around with the game.


no..not the actual use of it in the game...I meant stuff from the actual video clips...not game play. Like the scenes inbetween the gameplay that make me hopeful that you'll use it.
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Postby Monkey J. Luffy » Mon Jun 02, 2008 3:54 pm

Mr. SmartyPants (post: 1231038) wrote:"If you don't like Portal than you must be STUUUUPID."
-Yahtzee


I LOVE YOU for quoting such an awesome line, but i do need to change my sig, I definitly agree, I guess all of those lines were definitly a killjoy... so I sorta understand... and I have other interest... hehehe

portal gun use in half-life is very possible, since the third episodes purpose is too find something related to portal
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Postby Nate » Mon Jun 09, 2008 9:23 pm

News for Portal fans:

The site Breakdown Express apparently has just posted a job opening for Valve, for voice work for Portal 2.

WARNING: Possible spoilers in the link.

http://kotaku.com/5014851/rumor-casting-call-reveals-portal-2-details
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Postby Monkey J. Luffy » Wed Jul 02, 2008 8:06 pm

NO! not another portal! Just use the portal gun in half-life three and call it a day! I want to see the portal gun used in a different game world!
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Postby Etoh*the*Greato » Wed Jul 02, 2008 8:08 pm

The half-life and portal worlds are the same world.
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Postby Peanut » Wed Jul 02, 2008 9:34 pm

Monkey J. Luffy (post: 1241322) wrote:NO! not another portal! Just use the portal gun in half-life three and call it a day! I want to see the portal gun used in a different game world!


Since this is Valve I'm going to trust them and assume that the sequel will at least be moderately good...I honestly have no clue how they are going to pull it off...but I'm sure they can think of something. And even with Portal 2 I would still say it's a safe bet that they will at least have some sort of Portal Easter egg in HL2: EP3...I hope...
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